Every person counts is the message Turner Valley administration is sending its citizens in light of the upcoming municipal census.
The Town of Turner Valley is urging residents in the community of about 2,2000 to participate in its municipal census from May 15 to June 29 so it can qualify for as much federal and provincial grant funding as possible.
“Several grants are based on per capita and we don’t want to miss out on those dollars,” said Heather Thomson, the Town’s manager of legislative services. “Every person counts for grant dollars right down to children.”
The Town is also looking to save on the cost of the census using web-based software created by the City of Airdrie.
Thomson said this is the first time the Town used an online program for its census and hopes for at least 50 per cent online participation from its citizens.
The Town budgeted $10,000 for this year’s census, she said.
“The more people that we can get going online the less doors the enumerators have to go knocking on,” she said, adding the numerators get paid per dwelling and there are approximately 1,100 in Turner Valley. “We would like to get as many online responses as possible to keep the costs as efficient as possible.”
To add incentive, the Town will make 10 random draws for $50 in Turner Valley Bucks for those who take the online census the first two weeks, from May 15 to June 29. The bucks can be applied to a variety of payment to the Town, from swim passes to utility fees.
The Town hired two enumerators who will go door to door from May 30 to June 29 to those who have not yet completed the online census. Residents can still respond online once the door-to-door collection begins, Thomson said.
Turner Valley’s last municipal census was in 2011 and its last federal census the following year.
“We’ve grown substantially since then, especially last year,” Thomson said, adding this means the Town would qualify for even more grant funding.
While Turner Valley is due for a federal census next year, Thomson feels a municipal census will have a higher participation rate and will also get the Town grant funding sooner.
“We just don’t feel that the federal numbers are the most appropriate right now so we decided to go with the municipal,” she said. “Although the federal (census) is coming in a year, we likely won’t get those numbers for a year following that census.”
Thomson said the municipal census will take the average resident five minutes to complete.
The census asks such questions as the number of residents living in the dwelling, their age, the type of dwelling, where the residents lived previously, the type and location of employment, mode of transportation to work/school and if public transportation were available would the citizen use it.
“We want to get a feel for how many people would use a public transit system to Calgary or to Okotoks,” Thomson said.
“We’ve tried public transportation out here in the past. We had a private contractor offer the service and basically it wasn’t utilized.”
Thomson said the Town also wants to determine how many of its residents work in town and how many are commuting to other centres for work.
“It’s just to get a general sense more so on the economic development side of things,” she said.
The results of the municipal census must be submitted to Municipal Affairs by the end of August.
Turner Valley residents will notice a pink door hanger at their homes on May 15 and 16 containing a personal identification number they will need to complete the census.
The online version of the census can be accessed at the Town’s website at turnervalley.ca effective May 15.
